Matisyahu's music, life a work in progress

Matisyahu brings his Festival of Lights Tour to Philadelphia's Theatre of Living Arts on Tuesday.

Matisyahu brings his Festival of Lights Tour to Philadelphia's Theatre of Living Arts on Tuesday. (JACK DUGAN PHOTOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Alan SculleySpecial to The Morning Call

Aside from ZZ Top, probably no other music artist could cause more of a commotion by shaving a beard than Matisyahu.

While ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill have not taken a razor to their signature facial hair in decades, Matisyahu went clean shaven and trimmed his hair in December 2011. It radically altered his appearance, but registered on a much deeper level because of what the whisker whacking represented to an entire population.

As music's leading Hasidic Jewish artist, Matisyahu inspired a legion of people. He set an example for how to be an Orthodox Jew yet also assimilate into society and enjoy such secular pursuits as going to concerts and clubs or partying.

Matisyahu tried to explain that he had not rejected his faith and had only decided he could not live by certain stringent rules. But the change in Matisyahu's appearance, as well as the absence of a yarmulke as part of his attire, caused plenty of consternation.

It's been three years since Matisyahu revamped his look and religious practices. He has released two albums since — 2012's "Spark Seeker" and his newest effort, "Akeda." And Matisyahu (Matt Miller is his secular name) says he has yet to get a good read on how going clean shaven has affected his image.

"There are some people who get it and there are some people that don't, and that's what it is," he says in a phone interview. "I have no control over who understands my life and who doesn't understand it and who understands my music and who doesn't.

"And I try not to spend too much time really thinking, or worrying or even reading comments about it. I'm busy kind of living my life. And so yeah, that's the gist of it. There was a time when I was really affected by all of the stuff I was reading online and I just stopped reading that stuff."

Up until he revealed his new look, Matisyahu hadn't had to deal with much in the way of criticism. Now 35, he got noticed with his independently released 2004 debut album "Shake Off the Dust … Arise." That was followed in 2006 by the concert CD, "Live At Stubb's," which was picked up for release by Epic Records and gained the attention of the mainstream media.

Matisyahu was praised for his blend of reggae, hip-hop and rock, and for the spiritual, uplifting messages in his lyrics. He ended 2006 riding a wave of popularity, as his second studio album, "Youth," debuted on the Billboard album chart at No. 4 and a single from the album, "King Without a Crown," went top 10 on the Modern Rock chart.

That song remains Matisyahu's biggest hit, but his subsequent studio albums — 2009's "Light" and "Spark Seeker" — also received favorable reviews, and did well enough commercially to solidify his place as one of reggae's top artists and keep him on the mainstream rock/pop radar.

Those two albums, as well as "Akeda," have also helped show that Matisyahu's music extends well beyond the reggae sound that first gained attention.

"Akeda" is especially diverse. Hip-hop remains a core element, blending with electronic pop on "Star On The Rise" and "Vow Of Silence." There is also tuneful rock on the horn-filled "Watch The Walls Melt Down," "Reservoir" and pop on "Built To Survive" and "Ayeka (Teach Me To Love)."

Meanwhile, reggae, which had been less pronounced on "Light" and particularly "Spark Seeker," returns in a prominent way on the songs "Black Heart" and "Confidence."

"Because I was so heavily influenced by this dance hall conscious reggae music in the early 2000s, when I was really developing my voice, that was the main voicing that I used," Matisyahu says. "But throughout time, I've always dipped into different things and combined different things."

Matisyahu credits his backing group of the past five years — Dub Trio — for helping to bring more of a reggae element back into his music.

"They really kind of re-inspired or sparked that flame I have for reggae music, because depending on who's playing the reggae music, it makes a difference, the way in which that particular genre of music is played," he says. "They kind of re-inspired me because of their particular version.

"The Dub Trio, has made a huge impact on my life, on the music that I make. So I wanted to make a record with them."

Matisyahu also brought back Aaron Dugan (who played guitar in his group from 2004-10), Rob Marscher (who played keyboards with Matisyahu 2008-12) and drummer Mark Guillana as featured players on the album.

Brooks, though, was an especially central figure on "Akeda," co-writing every song and playing multiple instruments.

"We have a certain like brotherhood in terms of the music that we like and we love," Matisyahu says. "So this [album] was just about me and him collaborating together on what it is that we are inspired by and listening to now."

Lyrically, "Akeda" reflects several major changes in Matisyahu's life over the past few years. In addition to allowing his life to be less directed by the rules of his religion, he also went through a divorce and overcame a drug problem.

"I feel like it's a more personal record," Matisyahu says. "It's about all of these struggles and taking all of the ideas and finally feeling them come down out of my head and into my heart, and what it feels like to be a human in this world, to be a human being and to relate to the world, to connect to the world, with people, relationships, struggles. There's always been this element, [this] concept, of redemption and freedom, and that's always been a part of my music and it comes in and out in a lot of lyrics and things like that. But that's a huge part of this record — and struggling to try and do what's right and to try and be happy at the same time and just letting go of a lot of things."

Always a dynamic live performer, Matisyahu has his backing group, the Dub Trio, plus guitarist Dugan on tour with him. Fans can expect to hear a lot of "Akeda" in the show, as well as a couple of tracks each from his previous albums. And since his Dec. 23 show at the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia will be part of his annual "Festival of Lights" Hannukah tour, it will have a few twists.

"It's really an extension of the fall tour," Matisyahu says "We do bring out a disco ball and we have a good time with the lighting of Norad and all of that kind of stuff. But outside of that, the songs we play, it will be sort of a continuation of the fall tour, with the exception that we will play the Hanukkah songs that [we do]."